observer.guardian.co.uk — "Explaining everyday risks is a critical task for any teacher - though the exercise can have unexpected effects, as some remarkable photographs reveal. In them, chemistry teacher Neil Dixon demonstrates with powdered milk the dangers posed by one of life's more unusual hazards: exploding custard factories." Read on and don't miss the pictures!
Oct 22, 2006 View in Crawl 4
ceralorOct 23, 2006
My teacher did the same thing to demonstrate the explosion of the flour mill in Timeline (the good book not the bad movie). He put flour in a paper tube and blew it out across a Bunsen burner, and formed a long flame that went waaay to the back of the room.I did that as a trick on halloween afterwards.
carbonetcOct 23, 2006
Some of those shots looked a little Hogwarts-esque.
egb6550Oct 23, 2006
Does he still have his job?.. I'm sure some paranoid parents are gonna get him
jmzookOct 23, 2006
IvanB, you are the kind of person who wants to take all the fun out things, just because they are "dangerous". This has to be one of the best science teachers out there, or at least the coolest. I had an eighth grade science teacher who did stuff like this, and it was awesome. One time we went out onto the soccer field with a bucket of water and a chunk of pure sodium, put the two together, and BOOM! Nobody was hurt, because we stood far enough away, and the teacher used a long string to set it off. We need more teachers like this, and fewer paranoid parents.
andronicus1717Oct 23, 2006
In high school chemistry we did demos where we would bubble out methane, grab a handful, and light them off on our hands. Of course we dipped our arms in water first to have an insulating layer against burns.We also played around with liquid nitrogen, thermite, sodium, gun cotton, and a host of other hazardous materials.Reckless? Maybe, but without that class I would not have the same appreciation and love for chemistry, and would not be where I am today... a DOE nuclear contractor :-D
dijonwolfieOct 23, 2006
@gyrfalconAs I said further up, I attended this school for 5 years (3 for GCSE & 2 for A Level) and for A level lessons I studied under that very teacher for the last 2. Those buildings are purpose built Chemistry labs which conform to British Standards for a school Lab and so things like ceiling tiles and the desks are flame retardant, also all the classes are fitted with heat activated sprinklers. This was not a stunt, he did this when I was there regularly and is obviously still doing it now... in the 2 years since I left the school is still there (though they are building its replacement as we speak) so I deduce that this IS a safe experiment.
moo2u2Oct 23, 2006
meh, my teacher set our classroom alite with burning magnesium, burning paper, and got everyone to break all the test tubes when he told us to put them in boiling wax and test temperatures...
lanceruch123Aug 5, 2008
I know many accident happen in the school mistakenly burned by the science teachers.There is one accident where the student face and side view really burned that he brought until today. He can not afford medical treatment so the memory is still with him. He is now college graduate and working in IT firm. The incident happen during his high school life.<a class="user" href="http://depedteacher.blogspot.com">http://depedteacher.blogspot.com</a>